The Meharry Translational Research Center

The purpose of the Meharry Clinical and Translational Research Center (MeTRC) grant is to cultivate minority researchers by funding their projects, and building an infrastructure of laboratories, training, and support staff. Budding scientists compete for pilot projects, in hopes their research ideas will mature into collaborative projects with other investigators. In time, they become fully funded researchers who are able to attract external funding and operate independently.

Translational research is a branch of scientific research that has developed in recent years which translates lab discoveries into actual treatments patients can use. The scientists in the Meharry Translational Research Center look for treatments for diseases and health disorders that disproportionately impact minorities. Areas of emphasis include infectious diseases (especially HIV/AIDS) and women’s health.

REQUIREMENT: Each publication, press release, or other document about research supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) award must include an acknowledgment of NIH award support and a disclaimer such as:

“Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54 MD0007593. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”

METRC Key Activities

Biomedical informatics is an interdisciplinary science that integrates clinical research, biology, computer science, Health Information Technology (HIT), biostatistics, and mathematics to solve problems related to biomedical research. Biomedical informatics serves as the backbone that drives discovery from the bench to the bedside.

The success of our current biomedical informatics program capitalizes on Meharry’s strong collaborative networks and alliances with regional and national research programs such as the Research Centers in Minority Institutes (RCMI), the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN), and the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). This allows biomedical informatics to leverage resources available through these programs, and to collaborate among biomedical informatics activities.

To fulfill these goals, the specific aims are as follows:

Develop an effective informatics infrastructure that will support the Meharry Clinical and Translational Research Center (MeTRC) goals in translational research;

The objective of the Collaborative Research Program (CRP) is to foster sustained collaborations between basic, clinical, and translational researchers from various disciplines at Meharry Medical College and to generate long-term partnerships with other public and private organizations in order to grow an integrative program of clinical and translational research.

Specific Aims are:

Develop a MeTRC-based Collaborative Research Program (CRP) to provide the financial resources to protect the time of clinical as well as basic researchers to participate in large-scale collaborative translational research projects related to disparities in women’s health and infectious disease.

Increase external and internal partnerships to accelerate the success and national impact of research at Meharry Medical College. Develop a sustained, evidence-based translational research network in Tennessee that partners Meharry with the State of Tennessee Department of Health (in particular, the Tennessee Division of Minority Health and Health Disparities Elimination) along with other academic and community health centers and agencies to address health disparities related to women and infectious disease. The network will design and implement a much-needed regional or state-wide intervention on a community health concern to be determined by the network. Promote collaborations within Meharry among basic and clinical scientists, and between departments and schools to launch new translational research projects. Develop collaboration(s) between Meharry and the Resources for Translational Research Network (RTRN) as well as the Data Technology Coordinating Center (DTCC), while maintaining our focused partnerships with Vanderbilt Medical Center’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, which has been dubbed Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR).

Development of an interactive MeTRC website to share information about research-related activities with collaborators, RTRN and VICTR
investigators and the public.

The goal of the Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP) within Vanderbilt’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) program is to develop transformative collaborative structures and strategies that will bring Meharry Medical College (MMC) and Vanderbilt University (VU) translational investigators and research programs together with community partners to shape and support innovative and community-based research. CERP provides the necessary opportunities, and broadly engages community partners throughout the clinical and translational research enterprise. The proposed program will build on existing activities and structures to create an explicit and innovative infrastructure that will engage community partners, including:

Academic institutions;

Health care systems, providers and payers;

Corporate healthcare entities, and;

Community advocates including public health entities, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and grass-roots groups that focus on improving community health.

The proposed program will engage each of these groups of partners to develop meaningful working relationships and stimulate and support collaborative translational research.

Specific Aims are:

To create and sustain an effective infrastructure that brings community and academic partners together to design, implement, evaluate and disseminate health-related research studies that enhance the capacity of all participants to address health priorities among diverse communities.

To engage community and academic partners to increase the quality and quantity of effective, responsive, and culturally- sensitive translational research that result in the implementation of best practices to improve public health.

To develop a set of core services that will support the efforts of researchers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of research projects that engage communities, including:

Community data profiling and needs assessment;

Process evaluation of community-based research;

Development and maintenance of a web-based community and academic resource registry

Community engagement and capacity building consultation;

Measurement and outcomes evaluation consultation;

Training and education services;

Dissemination and utilization services.

For additional information please contact:

Leah Alexander, Ph.D.
Community Engagement and Research Program Director
615-327-5839lalexander@mmc.edu

Supported by the National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54 MD0007593.

The focus of the Meharry Translational Research Center (MeTRC) evaluation activity is to conduct monitoring evaluation, mid-term reviews and periodic surveys with key stakeholders in order to ensure that there is robust evidence and a knowledge base for the design, implementation and impact assessment of the key functions. Additionally, the key functions are evaluated based on their collective effects on building capacity and infrastructure for clinical and translational research in women and health disparities.

On-going monitoring and evaluation facilitates the day to day management of the program. The mid-term review conducted at the end of year two is intended to illuminate the steps required to achieve desired goals. An external evaluator is expected to conduct a summative evaluation during the final year of the initiative to assess as objectively as possible the extent to which MeTRC met its short- and long-term objectives. Overall, the evaluation plan will generate evidence on the impact of MeTRC on building capacity and infrastructure for clinical and translational research, and examine related questions such as whether capacity for competitive clinical and translational research in women health disparities is increasing and what pathways led to the increase. Evaluation findings will provide critical information for guiding MeTRC as well as the future planning of Clinical and Translational Research (RCTR) programs.

The purpose of the Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource (PCIR) is to provide the resources necessary to facilitate clinical research in a minority academic setting by expanding existing programs, nurturing new investigators, and encouraging full utilization of its services. This PCIR provides an environment that promotes participation in outpatient clinical and translational research, community outreach that fosters participation of underrepresented minorities, and resources for cost-effective research participant interactions.

The purpose of the Meharry Translational Research Center (MeTRC) Pilot Project Program is to fund peer reviewed investigator-initiated pilot projects in translational and clinical research which will develop, energize, and maintain a critical mass of clinical and translational scientists at Meharry Medical College.

The specific aim of the program is to increase the quantity and quality of translational and clinical research projects at Meharry Medical College and enhance the competitiveness of Meharry’s clinical and translational research investigators in securing extramural research funding.

We are able to achieve this specific aim by developing and disseminating internal Requests for Applications (RFA), soliciting for pilot investigator-initiated translational and clinical research projects.

One major impediment to translational and clinical research is the difficulty in determining whether the idea has any real merit once applied to the human model. Frequently this preliminary evaluation lends itself to the format of a pilot project. Furthermore, most National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application mechanisms generally require some, if not substantial, preliminary data in order to compete and receive serious consideration.

Such data can be generated via seed or pilot project funding program without the major time and fund investment in a full project, and without exposing research subjects to unnecessary long and potentially risky clinical trials.

The overall objective of the faculty recruitment program is to attract investigators that will further the development of Meharry’s capacity to conduct clinical and translational research.

Specific Objectives of the program are:

To establish a cadre of investigators engaged in sustained, independent clinical research who will serve as career models and mentors for developing clinical and translational scientists at Meharry.

To provide skilled leadership for the Clinical Research Center which will enable the unit to offer proactive, robust, and efficient services for clinical and translational research related to health disparities.

The faculty recruitment program is relevant to public health because it will increase the number of scientists at Meharry who are conducting research that directly involves patients. In addition, because the research focus of Meharry is health disparities, the faculty recruitment program will specifically focus on investigators that understand the myriad of reasons for the striking differences in the health status of different sectors of the American public, and will focus on ways to eliminate these disparities.

The faculty recruitment program intends to recruit a magnet physician-investigator and a second physician-scientist who, together with current faculty, will furnish a model of clinical science as a primary career commitment. The investigators who are recruited will be expected to demonstrate specific methods of implementing translation research for the junior faculty members. They will be serving as mentors for the junior faculty members and will be utilizing various methods of communications, to lead by way of example. As part of this endeavor, the magnet scientist will be expected to “take charge” of the Clinical Research Center, and use it as an instrument to develop junior investigators into independent, career scientists as well as to deepen our understanding of human health.

The overall vision of the Meharry Translational Research Center (MeTRC) Regulatory Support Core is to provide regulatory knowledge and support through a process of standardization and consistent implementation of advances in information technology /services to all investigators and clinical research personnel. Our mission is to reduce their administrative burden and improve participant safety and regulatory compliance in an effort to foster translational research and expedite the speed with which findings are translated to patient care. This vision involves improved quality.

As a result, documents will be submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and other administrative offices in a higher quality form resulting in fewer steps/delays in approval and less frustration from investigators. Streamlined communications, standardized processes, forms, templates and staff with knowledge of regulatory and reporting requirements will result in improved efficiency and satisfaction.

The Specific Aims of the Regulatory Core are:

Guided by data-driven needs assessments, the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) will provide a “One-Stop Shopping Environment” in support of the research community by adding in an expanded menu of services. This includes:

Help researchers navigate the process by creating a central point of access to research resources;

Design and coordinate efforts to provide access to educational tools, resources and sessions designed for investigators and research personnel;

Improve communication and identification of regulatory, compliance or process issues.

Support new investigators by creating an Investigator Advocacy Program to provide a specialized set of research services consultants assisting with some or all components of the regulatory administrative efforts and serve as a liaison in interactions with IRB and other regulatory bodies of internal administrative offices. Investigators and clinical study personnel represented by the Investigator Advocate (IA) will bear less of the burden of administrative regulatory requirements thereby allowing investigators and research personnel to focus on participant interactions, safety and most importantly, their scientific interests.

Ensure research subject safety and knowledge, as well as research integrity and quality by expanding the Research Subject Advocacy (RSA) Program to help ensure human subject protection.

Support “big science” by implementing our Professional Management Program, staffed with personnel trained to move teams toward a common vision on complex, multi-disciplinary projects.

The mission of the Meharry Technologies and Resources for Core Laboratories is to provide services, computer resources, support, and training both inside and outside of the Meharry research community. Our goal is to ensure that all interested scientists are able to access and utilize state-of-the-art technologies for Protoemics, Mass Spectrometry, Imaging Analysis, Bioinformatics, and other data intensive applications. We strive to keep our facility up to date computationally and intellectually with services to support education and research in proteomics, bioinformatics, computational biology, and systems biology.

Our goals are to serve a broad research community and significantly enhance translational and clinical research at Meharry Medical College. We are committed to developing novel diagnostics and therapeutic interventions.

The Specific Aims of the Technologies and Resources for Core Laboratories are:

To develop a Proteomics Core Facility to expand and support Meharry’s clinical and translational research activitiesTo develop collaborations and partnerships inside and outside of Meharry Medical College that accelerates clinical and translational research, with the common link being the reliance on state-of-the-art proteomics strategies.

The Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource

The Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource, known as PCIR, helps researchers execute their clinical studies. Conducting clinical trials is beyond the scope of most grants; however, the PCIR helps scientists design their studies, locate research subjects, conduct their studies, collect samples, and submit documentation. A specially certified nursing staff who are knowledgeable about researchers’ protocols carry studies to their conclusion.

The Meharry Proteomics Core

Our Proteomics Core aids investigators and trainees with high performance computation in proteomics, as well as other “omics” type applications needing efficient analysis of large-scale biological data sets. The ability to incorporate proteomics into translational and clinical biomedical research is critical for the discovery of therapeutic interventions and high fidelity biomarkers of disease and response to therapy. The Proteomics Core provides state-of-the-art services, training, and bioinformatics-driven data analysis to the Meharry translational research community.

Supported by the National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54 MD0007593.

The Meharry Translational Research Center (MeTRC) and the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) have united to offer research expertise to the community. The Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CERC) builds partnerships and adds the scientific element to community work groups. Through workshops/training, consultation, mini-grants, educational material, and use of core facilities, the CERC is working one-on-one with communities to improve citizen health and broaden neighbors’ health knowledge. For more information, contact the CERC at 615.936.2565 or cerc@vanderbilt.edu.

Regulatory Support

The goal of MeTRC is to reduce investigators’ administrative burden and improve participant safety and regulatory compliance through process standardization, information technology, and other services to investigators and clinical research personnel. In partnership with VICTR, MeTRC has made available to researchers a knowledge base of regulatory matters and created a one-stop-shop (the StarBRITE tool) that helps them navigate through complex, interdisciplinary projects. It has also enhanced Meharry’s clinical research function with the patient advocacy and experiment-design functions now available in the Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource (PCIR). If you have questions about regulatory support at Meharry, contact PCIR at 615.327.5725.

Research Design Ethics

In tandem with the Office of Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource, MeTRC makes available to researchers the expertise of CITI-trained clinical research staff, and investigators at Meharry, both newcomers and seasoned professionals, will find time- and labor-saving guidance in the creation of their clinical trials. Contact the PCIR at 615.327.5725 for assistance.

Project Evaluation

As medicine has evolved from stethoscopes to PET scans, laboratory research has evolved from test tubes to fluorescent microsopy. The sophistication of today’s research environment is therefore narrowly competitive. MeTRC research projects are therefore narrowly examined for competitive advantage. Using rigorous study design and a refined logic model that incorporates multiple data collection points, MeTRC assesses projects’ indicators, milestones, tools and study design, key function reports, and more. Successful grants beget yet more grants; MeTRC’s evaluation function crosses the T’s and dots the I’s so that researchers are knowledgeable, projects are effective, and research translates to cures.

[5] A. Sakwe
“Profiling of genes associated with sustained high calcium adaptation of invasive breast cancer cells”
Presented at the Third AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research, National Harbor, MD, 2013

[6] D. J. Alcendor
“Racial Disparities in Bacterial Vaginosis and Associated Risks for HIV-1 Acquisition”
Presented at the 2013 United States Conference on AIDS, New Orleans, LA, 2013

1. An effective molecular vaccine for Chagas heart disease was generated by a collaborative effort between MeTRC investigators at Meharry Medical College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

This molecular vaccine was discovered via a collaborative effort involving: Dr. Pius Nde (a previously funded METRC Pilot Project PI) who utilized the MeTRC/RCMI Morphology Core (directed by Dr. Shawn Goodwin), in collaboration with the MeTRC Bioinformatics Core (directed by Dr. Sidd Pratap), as well as the laboratory of Dr. Fernando Villalta, (Co-Director of METRC Pilot Projects), and Dr. Quiana Mathews from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In addition, postdoctoral scientists at both Meharry and UAB participated. This discovery resulted in the following publication which actually made the cover page of the issue:

Furthermore, this discovery generated a picture that was selected as the “Biomedical Picture of the Day” by the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, UK. It was photographed in the MeTRC/RCMI Morphology Core. See the following link:

Chagasdisease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by blood-sucking triatomine insects affects 8 million people in Latin America causing significant morbidity and mortality. Chagas disease, which was once thought to be confined to endemic regions of Latin America, has now gone global due to human migration, becoming a new worldwide challenge with no vaccines nor effective drug available. Currently, 2-7 million Hispanics with Chagas disease live in North America, posing significant health disparity. Insect vectors have been reported in 43 US states and the disease is now endemic to Central and South Texas and exists there as a zoonosis. As a zoonosis, Chagas disease has proven to be a serious threat to military working dogs, decreasing military operational effectiveness in San Antonio, TX. We used a novel strategy using adenovirus vectors delivering a T. cruzi neutralizing epitope expressed on the invasive forms of the parasite that is highly conserved among strains of T. cruzi to immunized animal modes of Chagas disease with success. The results from this study indicate that the vaccine induced significant protection and elicited neutralizing antibodies that blocked the infection. We conclude that the neutralizing T. cruzi epitope is an essential epitope in the development of an effective molecular vaccine for Chagas disease.

Based on the collaborative studies between both institutions, an NIAID RO1 grant entitled “Novel Adenovirus-Based Chagas Vaccines” was submitted to NIH with two PIs, one from Meharry and the other from the UAB.

2. Oral Presentation from a MeTRC investigator at two important Scientific Meetings

a) Dr. Alcendor was recently invited as a distinguished speaker and panelist to the 7th Annual Ocular Disease and Drug Discovery Conference in San Diego on March 19-20, 2015 in San Diego, CA. This conference is known to showcase novel targets and innovative technologies impacting ocular disease. He will present his latest research published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation on “Retinal Pericytes” that was original funded as a Meharry MeTRC pilot grant.

b) In addition, Dr. Alcendor’s research findings were selected for an oral presentation at the distinguished Gordon Conference (Barriers of the CNS) held in New London, New Haven on June 15-20, 2014. His presentation was entitled “Retinal pericytes of the inner blood retinal barrier and cytomegalovirus infectivity: Implications for both CMV induced retinopathy and congenital ocular disease. Dr. Alcendor was also awarded with a Travel Award to give an oral presentation at the meeting. This presentation is a collaborative effort between Meharry and Vanderbilt scientists.

3. Members of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research, who were supported by MeTRC Research Pilot Projects, have made significant advancements with regard to the understanding of the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS infections.

The scientists listed below have elucidated the roles of critical HIV-1 and host molecules that participate in the process of HIV infection, the mechanisms involved in the pathogen/host interface, and the molecular basis of pathology of drug abuse in HIV infection. These studies are significant because they have identified new targets for intervention. These significant developments will facilitate new treatments for HIV/AIDS patients. Moreover, it will help with the management of HIV/AIDS in drug-abusing patients. Below, we briefly indicate their key discoveries and the publications associated with their studies.

3.1 Dr. CV Dash. Dr. Dash has significantly advanced the understanding of how cocaine and methamphetamine act in HIV infection. These studies are significant because they have implications in HIV-1 pathogenesis in drug-abusing patients. Additionally, these studies are advancing the understanding of the pathology caused by HIV- positive patients abusing drugs. The goal is to develop better strategies to manage HIV infection in drug-abusing patients. Dr. Dash’s laboratory has discovered that cocaine regulates HIV-integration in primary CD4+ T cells, induces CD4+ T cell apoptosis, and enhances HIV replication in CD4+ T cells by down regulating MiR-125b. These important discoveries resulted in the following 4 recent publications:

3.2 Dr. Bindong Liu. Dr. Liu’s laboratory has discovered two novel approaches which are important to inhibiting HIV replication. His group has discovered that a molecule from an oral bacteria Streptococcus cristatus, which is part of the normal oral flora, induces APOBEC3 expression to actually inhibit HIV-1 replication. This discovery is significant because the new bacterial molecule will be used as a new treatment for HIV infection. In his second important discovery, he found that an E2 protein of the GB virus Type C inhibits HIV-1 assembly through interference with HIV-1 gag plasma membrane. This discovery is significant because it has the potential to be used as a new treatment for HIV infection. In addition, he has discovered that the passage of HIV through vaginal epithelia cells is dependent on trafficking to the endocytic-recycling pathway. This study is significant because it documents that manipulating the endocytic recycling pathway is important to prevent vaginal HIV infection. These important discoveries resulted in the following 3 recent publications:

3.3 Dr. Waldemar Popik. Dr. Popik’s laboratory has discovery that the innate immune factor apolipoprotein L1 inhibits HIV-1 replication by multiple mechanisms. His group found that the APOL1 protein targeted HIV-1 Gag for degradation by the endolysosomal pathway. They found that APOL1 stimulated both endocytosis and lysosomal biogenesis by promoting nuclear localization of transcription factor EB (TFEB) and expression of TFEB target genes. Moreover, they demonstrated that APOL1 depletes the cellular viral accessory protein Vif, which counteracts the host restriction factor APOBEC3G, via a pathway involving degradation of Vif in lysosomes and by secretion of Vif in microvesicles. As a result of Vif depletion by APOL1, APOBEC3G was not degraded and reduced infectivity of progeny virions. In support of this model, Dr. Popik’s group also showed that endogenous expression of APOL1 in differentiated U937 monocytic cells stimulated with IFN-γ resulted in a reduced production of virus particles. This finding supports the hypothesis that induction of APOL1 contributes to HIV-1 suppression in differentiated monocytes. This study is significant because deciphering the precise mechanism of APOL1-mediated HIV-1 restriction may facilitate the design of unique therapeutics to target HIV-1 replication. This crucial discovery resulted in the following recent publication:

3.4 Dr. Xinhong Dong. Dr. Dong’s lab has elucidated the mechanism of HIV-1 particle release. His research findings demonstrated that the intact and stable AP-3 complex, a heterotetramer that is involved in signal-mediated protein sorting to endosomal-lysosomal organelles, is required for HIV-1 assembly and release, and the involvement of the AP-3 complex in late stages of the HIV-1 replication cycle is independent of clathrin-mediated endocytosis. This study is significant because untangling the detailed mechanism of HIV-1 particle assembly may facilitate the design of novel therapeutics to block HIV-1 infection.

Dr. Dong’s important discovery resulted in the following recent publication:

This publication was spotlighted by the Editors of the Journal of Virology in the Journal Issue.

3.5 Dr. Donald Alcendor. Dr. Alcendor studies the mechanisms of pathogenesis of the Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), which is the leading infectious cause of vision loss among congenitally infected children. Retinal pericytes play an essential role in maintaining the retinal vascular and endothelial cell proliferation. However, the role of retinal pericytes in ocular HCMV pathogenesis is still unknown. Dr. Alcendor’s findings indicate that in retinal pericytes, HCMV induces proinflammatory and angiogenic cytokines. In the Tricell culture model of the inner blood-retinal barrier (IBRB) (retinal endothelial, pericytes, Müller cells), pericytes likely serve as an amplification reservoir, which contributes, to retinal inflammation and angiogenesis. These studies are significant because they point out that it is necessary to develop IBRB model systems to better understand the mechanisms involved in progressive retinopathies and to provide more efficient methods for a timely evaluation of systemic therapies that must circumvent the IBRB.

Dr. Alcendor, in collaboration with scientists at Vanderbilt University, has developed for the first timea “neurovascular unit on a chip” with implications for translational applications including HIV-I infection. This novel technological platform, which combines innovative microfluidics, cell culture, analytical instruments, bioinformatics, control theory, neuroscience, and drug discovery, will replicate chemical communication, molecular trafficking, and inflammation in the brain. The platform will enable targeted and clinically relevant nutritional and pharmacologic interventions for or prevention of such chronic diseases as obesity and acute injury such as stroke, and will uncover potential adverse effects of drugs. If successful, this project will produce clinically useful technologies and reveal new insights into how the brain receives, modifies, and is affected by drugs, other neurotropic agents, and diseases. These novel studies resulted in the following two recent publications:

4) Several faculty members in the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry, (that were previously funded through MeTRC Pilot Project funding), have effectively collaborated with scientists at Vanderbilt and the TN Department of Health in writing and submitting a successful Tennessee Center for AIDS Research (TN-CFAR) grant-1P30AI110527-01A1, which has received a fundable impact score of 12.

The TN-CFAR involves Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College and the TN Health Department, with separate budget components for each institution. Meharry scientists will participate by leading and co-leading components of the TN-CFAR. Meharry’s participation will facilitate the expansion of various types of HIV research at Meharry and will enhance the HIV biological and clinical research enterprise.

5) School of Graduate Studies and Research Students Are Top Winners at Health Disparities Conference

Two graduate students won the first and second place awards at the recent ISMHHD NIH Conference 2014 in Bethesda, MD.

Both students are mentored by MeTRC investigator, Dr. CV. Dash.

Amma Addai (top photo) and LaKeisha Summers (bottom photo) were winners of first and second place, respectively, in the Graduate Student Category at the Minority Health and Health Disparities Grantees’ Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland in December, 2014.

The 2014 Student Poster Competition is a program designed and developed to foster and support the innovation, ingenuity and intellectual integrity of future scientists dedicated to the improvement of minority health and the elimination of health disparities from a global perspective. Furthermore, the competition supports the future of education and the evolution of science and excellence in developing students to lead the charge of discovery and leadership.

6) MeTRC Pilot Project investigators have played important roles in the scientific peer review community serving as Editors, Editors in Chief, Academic Editors, and members of Editorial Boards for Scientific Journals.

Dr. Xinhong Dong, Editor, AIDS and RecentAdvancements & Editorial Board member, The Journal ofHIV/AIDS Research and Therapy, the Journal JSM Microbiology, the Journal of AIDS & Its Research and Austin Journal of Clinical Immunology

7) The Collaborations & Partnerships Key Activity has been active in creating an environment that has enhanced research activities through the collaborative efforts of internal and external investigators resulting in scholarly publications and partnerships. Examples are listed in items 1,2,3 and 4 of these MeTRC scientific highlights.